"Not one of New Zealand's local authorities will
hold celebrations for the Queen this Queen's Birthday
weekend" said Lewis Holden, chair of the Republican
Movement.

The Republican Movement wrote to all of New
Zealand's district and city Mayors in May. Not one indicated
any celebration of the Queen's Birthday for the upcoming
long weekend - instead, several announced they were holding
celebrations for Matariki, the Maori new year.

"Queen's
Birthday weekend is supposed to be a time to celebrate the
monarchy. But the weekend is a celebration of nothing. The
Queen's actual birthday was on April 21. The date was moved
to June because the weather is better in the northern
hemisphere. The reason for the holiday is ignored by most
New Zealanders and marked only as a long weekend. We should
celebrate something unique about our place in the world. We
could celebrate Matariki or the Winter solstice, a fun
winter festival. New Zealanders simply don't care about the
monarchy anymore." concluded Mr Holden.

The Republican
Movement

The Republican Movement is a network of New
Zealanders who want our head of state to be elected by New
Zealanders - either directly or indirectly.

We are
committed to:

* involving all New Zealanders in the
republic debate;

* providing relevant and reliable
information;

* focusing on ideas, not personalities;

* winning a referendum to establish the
republic;

Creating a republic does not require any change
to the Treaty of Waitangi, flag or Commonwealth membership.
For more information, see our website: www.republic.org.nz
[1]

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